Community college leaders eyeing institutional expansion have found a silver lining to the depressed real estate market. Though dwindling state appropriations have halted new construction on many campuses, burgeoning student enrollments have inspired some college officials to buy dilapidated storefronts and acquire public property for development.

Disasters and tragedies over the last decade have motivated colleges and universities to develop emergency management plans, but very little information has been collected to give campus officials a sense of how their programs compare to their neighbors and peer institutions.

Amid fears of a possible “double-dip” recession and simmering anti-tax sentiment, community colleges with pressing facilities needs are deciding they cannot risk a defeat in a bond vote – and so are not going before voters on this November’s ballot to ask for the funds to properly address them.

In 1968 and 1969, students at Columbia University protested against a number of the university’s policies and plans, accusing the institution of racism and imperialism -- the latter for the military ties that connected the university to the Vietnam War. Most notably, they opposed Columbia's intended construction of a gymnasium in nearby Morningside Park, a small green space utilized by the area’s largely black and Puerto Rican residents.